Hi, I'm heading to HCMC shortly & need some help with basics:
1- Arriving at midnight. Will I be able to change USD for dong at that hour? Would prefer to pay for taxi w/ local currency.
2- Cab ride to hotel, District 1? (I know there are two reliable taxi companies - is the fee just the meter, or is there an add-on) Easy to pay in USD?
3- Rules on tipping? on my last trip I had some cabbies who were very aggressive about asking for big tips.
4-Where to get VN Sim card? I have a basic cell ph I use in China. If I get a VN sim card for it, will it come w/ a VN local phone #? Where is easiest place to buy SIM card - any place at airport ? Or will I need to buy basic cell phone (is OK, since I'll share w/ a co-worker for his trip next year)
5- Ice cubes. I know not to drink tap water, but am I OK w/ ice cubes in the delicious VN iced coffee? How to judge safety?
6-Gifts. Is there anything special I can bring from US for business associates in HCMC that would be especially nice?

Lots of qts -- Would really appreciate any info that will help my entry be smooth. I have to get up the following morning and go right to work.

2 Your hotel can provide transportation. It's MUCH better that way. You don't want to waste time looking for money changer. I think we paid the hotel US$15 for that ride which is a tad more than taxis but it's so worth it. Our hotel was Metropole. Generally speaking taxis don't take USD.
1 You can change money at front desk in your hotel. However the best rates are offered at gold jewelry stores. I changed some US$100 (they only take fresh new bills) and got very good rates. My hotel front desk people warned us against doing that as bad people are watching they said. Maybe they were but there were two of us. There are also many citibanks around with atm machines.
3 No rules. Tip as you please. People will always ask for more, doesn't mean that you have to yield.
4 the front desk people in the hotel can tell you where.
5 We had ice cubes in all drinks whole day long. No problem. It's crazily hot there.
6 They have really good coffee but you have to give the coffee set as well otherwise there is no way to make the coffee. I bought myself a nice set and have been using it eversince. You can get those in good supermarkets. I gave scarves for my friends but I got them at Hanoi.
Have fun!

I mean when you give coffee you have to give the coffee maker set as well.

We got our cash from ATMs.

I can help with only a few of your questions.

2. I've arrived late in the evening (on United via HKG) and a prepaid taxi seemed the easiest option: as you exit immigration and customs, but before you reach the public area, there's a line of booths stretching at right angles to the left and to the right. Several of these offer prepaid taxis. I've used the first one to the right; it cost $9. You pay the girl, she gives you a receipt and takes you out to the taxi rank, finds a suitable taxi, gives the driver his voucher and tells him where you want to go. The airport is only 3 or 4 miles from the center of town but the journey can take up to 30 minutes in heavy traffic.

1. There are ATM machines at the airport, but if you use the prepaid taxi method, the girl taking you to your taxi will not be keen on hanging around while you fiddle around with a machine (she needs to go fetch the next customer). My recollection is the ATM machines are outside the exit into the public area while the taxi places are inside.

Your hotel should be able to point you to an ATM machine in the morning. All the ATM machines I've used in Vietnam seemed to have a limit of 2 million VND (which is only about $100) and some of them deliver it in 500,000 VND bills, which are pretty hard to use outside of hotels and high-end restaurants.

4. I bought a Mobiphone SIM last year for 60,000 VND (about $3). It worked fine in an unlocked GSM phone with no registration required and gives you a Vietnamese number. I got it from a stall on the street opposite the Park Hyatt but there must be similar places on every corner. Ask your hotel. The magic word is "simcard" (not SIM). The other operators are Vinaphone (who have a huge store near the main Post Office) and Viettel. They all have English language websites.

Thanks so much for the specific info. It's a huge help.

Most of the ATM machines show a max of 2,000,000 withdrawal but you can withdraw twice at the same time without any problem. Other machines also ask if you want a different amount than those proposed, we withdrew 5,000,000 at a time which is roughly 200.00 us dollars. You are charged 20,000 for the transaction at the atm machine and usually another $3.00 back at home so limit your transactions.

What you're charged for using an ATM depends on your home bank. I have three checking accounts: Wachovia, now it's Wells Fargo, charges a 3% foreign conversion fee plus an extortionate amount for using a non-Wachovia ATM (it's a backup).

My Credit Union charges a 1% foreign conversion fee, and I get five free non-CU ATM accesses a month.

Capital One charges NO foreign conversion fee, NO fee for using a non-Cap One ATM, and refunds up to $10/month of fees charged by other banks.

How does that work with Capital One? I assume you're talking about having a checking account with Capital One, not just a credit card? If you use their credit card to get money from an ATM, you will be charged interest as a cash advance -- not a good deal.

I'm also curious about the Wachovia comment, while they did charge me a fee (around $6 each time) for using ATMs in Vietnam (withdrawing from my checking account) that was the 3% conversion fee, but no further fee at all. I have no idea what was meant above by "an extortionate amount for using a non-Wachoveia ATM" --- I saw no such extra fee.


And by the way, my very first withdrawal at a Vietnam ATM was in Hanoi at the airport where I withdrew 4,000,000 without a problem in one withdrawal. And then I did the same at two other banks in Vietnam. Here is the first I've heard that there is a limit of less than that, since I withdrew 4 million each of three times on a first attempt.

If my above comment about Wachovia was unclear. The $6 charge does equal the 3% charge for withdrawing 4 million dong or $200.

I have an online checking account as well as a credit card with Capital One. See http://www.capitalone.com/directbanking/ (I have the Interest Online Account).

From the Wachovia website (for my zip code for both "free" checking and Crown accounts):

# Non-Wachovia ATM Withdrawals, $2.50 note 5
# Non-Wachovia ATM Inquiries, $2.00 note 5

5 When you make a transaction or balance inquiry at an ATM not owned by Wachovia, we may charge you a fee and you may be charged a fee by the ATM owner or operator.

I'm glad others were able to get more than 20M VND from ATMs in Vietnam but I found that when I asked for more I got an inscrutable or worrying error message like "transaction refused" or "card invalid", so I stopped experimenting after the first few failures.

It looks like a safe strategy is to ask for what you want and back off to 20M if you get rejected, then repeat if you want more.

So thursdaysd, the "extortionate amount" you were referring to originally was $2 or $2.50? Sorry, I was guessing that "extortionate amount" would mean something pretty major!

I get the impression from my experience that they don't even charge that amount if it is a foreign withdrawal and they do the 3% instead. Since many banks (BofA among them) charge $5 for each withdrawal, I didn't consider the $6 charge on a $200 withdrawal that much out of line.

Since I can withdraw money with no charge using Capital One I certainly consider the Wachovia charges (which have appeared gradually over the last few years) unreasonable. They do indeed charge fees as well as the 3% - I have paid them before I got the other accounts. And $2.00 for a balance query? Come on!

You were traveling for what, three months? I'm traveling for six months, on a budget. What is a minor amount for a two week trip mounts up over that time frame. Besides, I don't like being "taken", and charging these kinds of fees for transactions that cost a fraction of a cent to process is extortionate. I prefer to support companies that don't behave that way.

cash is easy from ATM's--max 2,000,000 per transaction, but can do multiple transactions---no local fees...

i take some ice with drinks, but i prefer not too... often water is not chilled even in restaurants...

thursdaysd, you are right. $2.00 should be considered "extortion" when it comes to banks. What was I thinking?